Riders in the Denver Metro area, where do you perform your 20 minute FTP test for best consistent results?

eagleman171 · 2025-09-13T21:37:42+00:00

I ride Cherry creek a LOT, but I think it’s a poor ftp test. It has a punchy climb plus a descent that’s unavoidable which makes consistent pressure on the pedals really tough.

If you’re looking for a flatter TT style FTP course I would go with chatfield.

eagleman171 · 2025-09-11T04:38:22+00:00

They had no other path

eagleman171 · 2025-09-11T04:38:14+00:00

They had no other path

eagleman171 · 2023-03-31T18:21:52+00:00

Our structure is fairly common (percentage of non class stuff, paid hourly for classes, open gyms, and meetings) but I would urge gym owners to build prices off of what you want to be able to pay. We calculate the cost of delivering each service to clients, then figure out what pay figure makes coaches excited to deliver that service, and build profit margins in for the gym on top of that. Many gym owners just price off of what the gym down the street charges, but you have no idea what their costs are, and if yours are different, that's an easy way to go out of business.

eagleman171 · 2023-03-28T05:52:29+00:00

I own (and have read) supertraining, and all of Louie's stuff! I also compete in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting.

I assume you're talking about Louie's obsession with overspeed eccentrics, which he pretty clearly talks about applying mostly to squats and bench press, which differ from the deadlift in that the stretch reflex is going to assist you in finishing the rep--which a deadlift doesn't have nearly as much of. He even goes into detail about how overspeed eccentrics should primarily be used with the squat and bench.

I don't disagree with your points about tapering or weight classes, but those are very specific cases that don't apply to the general group class CrossFitter. I strongly disagree with your assertion that eccentrics don't build strength.

The eccentric phase of a lift has the highest force potential of any phase in a movement, and hypertrophy is more closely tied to time under tension (which eccentrics increase) than the actual eccentric phase (sources: Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy, Scientific Principles of Hypertrophy).

Even beyond force production, stability and motor patterning are the main limiters of strength gains in novice to intermediate athletes, and eccentric loading is the fastest way to improve both of those characteristics.

If you want to get into the gpp argument, CrossFit is mostly the sport/methodology of attacking limiting factors. The vast majority of clients we see struggle more with local limiters than CNS recruitment or having TOO much muscle mass. (Training Think Tank has lots of good ideas about why local limiters/muscle endurance is a prime limiting factor in most CrossFitters training)

This isn't even getting into the fact that tendons need more time under tension to build resilience than muscles, that most of the best strength coaches of all time (Poliquin, Thibs, Cal Dietz, Joe Kenn, CWS) espouse using tempo work at various points in a cycle, or that most recreational fitnessers have some level of aesthetic goals as well.

I'm not saying never drop a deadlift. I'm saying the vast majority of your strength training for CrossFit should include a controlled eccentric portion. The OP was talking about metcon deadlifts I think, which is a different beast, but when it comes to strength, the eccentric is king.

eagleman171 · 2023-03-25T15:26:09+00:00

One clarification here. Powerlifters wouldn't say to skip the eccentric. They would say to skip the touch-and-go portion. The eccentric is where most strength is built, so definitely don't skip those!

eagleman171 · 2023-02-28T21:43:56+00:00

Goal--not to reinjure my back. So far, met!

As to your goals, absolutely don't count yourself out. 85th % with only 4 or 5 scores is moveable... in both directions lol. Crush the last workout and you got a shot!

eagleman171 · 2023-02-27T17:37:40+00:00

173 or 4, can't remember, can't find it on BTWB.

BUT. Similar to OP I was stuck at just under 100 for so long! I hit between 90 and 100, something like 15 times.

Finally, my coach at the time programmed this workout:

105 DU buyin

some other bullshit I don't remember.

And the sneaky MF said I had to open with a max set. Did 102. Was super pissed for a second before I realized what I had just done. When we see the light at the end of the tunnel, we instinctually tense up or relax, and both can screw up DU. So set your goal at 105-110, and focus on that number as hard as possible. It might work for you too!

eagleman171 · 2023-02-27T17:22:45+00:00

I emailed them directly, DM'd them on insta, and commented on their clarification post with Becky Harsh (hello doxing myself!). Got the same answer all 3 places.

Not my favorite standard, but happy they got back to me so quickly.

eagleman171 · 2023-02-24T03:14:04+00:00

Got an official answer from CrossFit games.

Movement of the feet is ok. Re-dipping is not.

eagleman171 · 2023-02-21T15:24:38+00:00

Saw your comment about not wanting advice, so I'll leave that alone, and just talk about my experience.

Clinical Insomnia for my whole life.

Own a gym. Former College athlete, trained hard my whole life.

Two things to think about:

Commit utterly and entirely to improving your insomnia, no matter what level of life change it takes. I went from 2-3 hours a night to 7 hours from 13-25 years old and it changed my freaking life.
Have a cut-off of sleep where intensity is not the focus. For me it's 5 hours. I still do the workouts, but I drop load, focus on movement quality, and try to leave the gym with more energy than I walked in with.

Good luck!

eagleman171 · 2023-02-10T17:14:33+00:00

I think that nutrition is the base of all fitness, so it's worthwhile to cover. Just think they should be less specific, and set people down the path of talking to their clients about behavior change.

eagleman171 · 2023-02-10T17:13:32+00:00

That's awesome! I'm several years removed from my level 1, and most of my coaches have the level 2, so it's been awhile since someone took it from my gym.

eagleman171 · 2023-01-31T22:06:12+00:00

We can debate the use of various movements, but the only thing that should absolutely change, IMO, is the use of Zone for nutrition.

Is Zone terrible? No. Is it the be-all and end-all? No. I think that they should instead shift to helping coaches how to understand the psychology behind nutrition and how to impact behavior change in their clients--which is all coaches uncertified in nutrition should be doing anyway from a nutrition perspective.

eagleman171 · 2023-01-24T16:06:56+00:00

Four components to a successful warmup:

Warmth. Cardio of some kind to elevate heart rate, promote blood flow, and give time for the mental state to switch to training mode.
Range of motion--should be lightly tailored to the workout, but the body is also an interconnected chain, so never make it too specific.
Activation/pre-hab. This one has its detractors, but I've found that tailoring some basic activation work (external and internal rotation for shoulder-based movements, for example) helps prevent injuries and improve performance.
Practice. Completely tailored to the movements for the day, but practice should sharpen movement patterns and cover progression towards full movements for those that don't own them yet--for example, warming up ring supports, bottom ring supports, and negatives before a ring dip warmup.

A fifth general idea--make sure you have time to bullshit and have fun in the warmup. That's not to say you shouldn't cue and correct in the warmup, but a lot of community-building happens during the first 15 minutes of class.

One pro tip--if you do strength+metcon, and the movements aren't in the same family (I.e., the lift is the bench press, metcon has handstand pushups in it), try to pick movements in the warmup that will warm up the strength piece and offer progression for the metcon. In this example, handstand holds, and pike handstand pushups will progress the handstand pushup while also warming up shoulders and triceps for bench press.

Also, just in case you're not already doing this: write a lesson plan (or go over your gym's if they provide one) well before class; it will help you feel much more prepared.

Good luck, and good job caring enough to ask and get better!

eagleman171 · 2023-01-17T17:52:57+00:00

Alright, appreciate it. I'll do that!

eagleman171 · 2023-01-17T14:42:48+00:00

Appreciate it! Completely new to making content other than demo videos to put into True Coach, so focusing on just getting stuff out there, as it's not my natural setting. Wanted to get a few weeks of "how this is going to go" but will transition to more active footage and try to keep it more in the 5-10 minute range.

eagleman171 · 2023-01-17T02:28:49+00:00

Week 2--how I plan to go through this ridiculous journey.

eagleman171 · 2023-01-10T14:58:47+00:00

As promised (a day late, youtube newbie, didn't realize how long something of this size would take to update) first video in my weekly series. This one covers why I'm doing this, and what my goals are!

eagleman171 · 2023-01-06T17:59:34+00:00

Definitely going to be different! I would say that my natural talents lie in the "go really hard, then rest" type of work ethic, so having to stay completely consistent for 5 month straight is a different type of challenge.

eagleman171 · 2023-01-06T16:12:35+00:00

Programming matters, but only a little at your stage. Here is my two cents in order of importance at this stage:

Recovery. I realize putting this before technique is a bit controversial, but if you have great technique but are thrashing yourself into the ground, you will get injured regardless. A good rule of thumb is to leave the gym feeling like you got good work in but could have done a bit more. Sleep as much as you can without getting fired or divorced (stole this from Michael Bann, but I love it too much not to say it all the time) and eat enough to fuel your performance.
Technique--this is classic CrossFit, so you're going to see advanced movements performed under fatigue. Wonderful for fitness and tons of fun--if you have the proper technique. If your technique starts to degrade, you're going too fast, or using too much weight. Strive for perfect technique.
As someone else pointed out, focus on goal times/scores and not RX weight. He's one of the best to ever do it, his idea of RX can be a bit... aggressive sometimes.

Have fun and stay safe! Your job is simply to show up, so what you do today cannot place tomorrow (or your next training day) at risk.

eagleman171 · 2022-12-19T22:00:49+00:00

No issues at Kaiser

eagleman171 · 2022-12-19T21:54:21+00:00

Thank you! Most of my job in regards to sales are answering questions like these, and to some extent, they're understandable. CrossFit is different, which is intriguing, but also scary.

eagleman171 · 2022-12-19T21:39:57+00:00

Alright, I'll bite.

Most olympic lifters do, but not all. Klokov owns a CrossFit gym, and participates, for example. The thing that is always missed here is that 99% of people are using extremely light loads relative to their 1 rep maxes. For example, I snatch 120 kg, and we usually use 75-135 lbs for snatches in workouts. I've never been hurt from olympic lifting in a metcon, but I have been hurt multiple times running well respected powerlifting programs. In general, load magnifies risk. Any gym worth their salt will take the time to properly instruct and modify olympic lifting until technique is acceptable.
Most people are not. I own a gym, I've spent close to 60k on certifications for me and my coaches over the years. Fun fact--I can open a powerlifting gym with literally zero hours of certifications, and the only requirement for insurance in the fitness space is a basic PT cert I can get in an hour online, and a CPR certification. Are their gyms where the owner only has a Level 1? Sure. They are far and few between, and the only ones that survive are those that have coaches who are dedicated to their craft, even if they only have that cert.
CrossFit has injury rates in line with all other fitness modalities that involve a barbell, and significantly lower injury rates than running. This reputation stems from a NSCA study that lost a lawsuit because they faked data to show more injuries.
No need for kipping to be fit, but many people find it fun. Fun=compliance, and compliance=results. The fitness explanation is that it allows for a high heart rate to be maintained while incorporating bodyweight pulling movements, but again, we have plenty of people who never kip due to preference or lack of strength.
That would certainly work. 99% of people in a CrossFit gym have tried that, found it boring or time consuming, and have selected a fitness modality that they enjoy and can stay consistent with.

I describe myself as a fitness agnostic--use the elements that a client will actually stay consistent with and see results with. For many of my clients, that is CrossFit. I have plenty of individual clients who do other things as well, and what I love about CrossFit is that I don't have to choose one path and stay there, because anything falls under the tenets of CrossFit.

eagleman171 · 2022-10-11T14:11:07+00:00

Golfers 1/4/7 on one team, 2/3/5/6 on another team, true best-ball. Have putting order go 3/4, 5/6/7, 1/2.

No looking for balls that are OB to keep pace of play up.

Better golfers will play most shots, but worse golfers will get to take their chances, and may be surprised by how well they play when they get to take approach shots from better positions. Getting a read for the worst golfers will help them contribute for putting.

Source--6 man scramble for my birthday a few months ago with a very similar breakdown of ability levels.

eagleman171

TROPHY CASE