Do you follow the latest Outlaw Lab CF Celebrity Program?

Hi all my name is Josh aka Jsav and I'm a coach at Qdos...

This is my first blog, and it's about the recent influx of functional fitness athletes following different programs.

I'm going to start with how I started out in functional fitness a good few years back.

It all started with the OTB boys in Styal Woods, on a crisp Saturday morning, having already purchased my  'We don't use machines, we create them' Tee fitting right in :)

I can remember the skill being a back squat and the WOD a tyre drag with burpees jumping onto the tyre. I wanted to look good and went super fast on the burpees, obviously dying but since that day I'm know to be the burpee boy ha ha...

Obviously after that day I got the 'bug' and trained every time the lads had a session, Monday and Wednesday in a school car park and Saturday mornings in Styal Woods. 6 to 8 months went and I could see the difference in my progress with my strength and fitness increasing and I got the name 'mong strong'. I was one of the good lads in the group.

DWF came up and I got picked to be in the OTB team which I was amazed at, being a 'novice'. Still on the OTB 'Craig Massey' program 3 times a week I felt quite prepared for the comp, knowing I had to do 'Jackie' with my sister 'Em Sav' and to cut a long story short we had a combined time which was up there with the best. I was super chuffed as: 1) I didn't let the guys down and 2) I somehow got butterfly pull ups ( I know there were a few dodgy reps ha ha) and 3) I somehow held my own in my first very competition.

Sadly the lads OTB ceased business and I carried on my training at TRAIN Manchester.

What I'm trying to get at - is to many 'new' athletes, they think that to get good and improve quickly you need to follow some super Rich Froning program or whatever the latest craze is. When I was training with OTB I never once thought I needed to do my own thing! I loved the class environment, getting PB's with the guys and wodding with my fellow OTB'ers! Luckily I did have Craig Massey as my coach and he has made me what I am today with the help of Oliver Barnes,Nick Jeffs and Paul Ramage. Yes I know I'm not anything amazing, but when I started out I never thought I'd be the "athlete" I am today. Being coached is the best thing about training and everyone needs it! If your doing your own program your breaking away from why we all started loving it in the first place, the classes and the community spirit!!

Yes if you want to take it a step further and become a competitor, then maybe yes you do need to have a longer strength session , work on your weaknesses etc etc, but you should still take part in the classes when you can, as you just don't get the intensity you need wodding on your own!

I don't claim to be an expert but I see people from my own gym follow their own programming, in a lot of cases by people who just aren't there yet! To be the best you can be you really do need coaching! I love wodding with the coaches and members at Qdos and they give me a nice push when mid WOD!!

"The magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community"

Greg Glassman

JSav signing out.

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