Joshua Wang

In this CrossFit video , athletes gather together for a roundtable discussion in Tahoe and discuss how to manage work and rest, among other topics. CrossFit athletes want to maximize performance. However, you cannot just keep working out. You need to rest. As Chris Spealler puts it, "No rest, no recover. No recovery, no intensity." Physical Fitness I've been learning to manage work and rest in physical fitness. I typically rest Thursdays and Sundays, but listen to my body first. I've also wanted to do a muscle-up for a long time. I got my first one on Friday! How? By managing work-rest. I would make a few attempts. But my arms would quickly tell me to rest, even though I'm itching to try again, and to get it "today". As I soon learned, the most effective way to reach your goal (and stay there), is to keep working at it, a little at a time, and not giving up or getting frustrated with yourself. Here's video proof, filmed by Kyle during the Pal

No. I did not wake up today at 4 a.m. To be more precise, I did not wake up and stay up. Why 4 a.m.? There are several things I want to get done after work, asides from working out. Currently, I'm working on a paper. Once this finishes, I plan to study for the MCATs. For the past few weeks, I have tried to work on my paper after work, to no avail. By the time I get home from work, my mind is fried. Indeed, as tired as I am in the morning, I feel the freshest in the morning. Also, working at home after work is also generally unproductive. Our house is very open, and it is hard to concentrate while others are trying to make conversation. One habit at a time I read a post by Matt Frazier (the No-Meat-Athlete ) about learning one habit at a time (he got his inspiration from Leo Babauta, author of Zen Habits ). Often times, when we want to make change, we have a goal of changing a plethora of habits (from adding new ones, to eliminating bad ones). Here's a brain dump of

Today I arrived a bit late to the gym, having come from work. Upon arriving, I found out I will have to do 20 burpees for every minute I'm late. I got pretty bummed about that for a while--well into the workout, which I didn't finish. Of course, I could have taken the motivated perspective, doing my best to be on-time, or else having another opportunity to become more fit. Anyways, this sounds pretty depressing. And depressed I felt. However, awesome I now feel :) Yesterday, I wrote about mentally going there in a workout. Today, arriving late didn't give me time to get in the right mindset. I suppose one day I can just turn on the switch and be ready to workout at max intensity. It definitely isn't easy to go there, and it will take some work. My time at the gym ended with a failed-but-closer-than-before muscle-up attempt. I was pretty happy, despite my arms feeling like jelly. And right now I feel awesome because my post-WOD protein shake is much better than my

WOD Push press 3 x 95 lbs, 3 x 115 lbs, 3 x 3 x 135 lbs, 3 x 155 lbs 5 Rounds for Time 10 Front Squats (135 lbs) 10 HSPU (first couple strict, then scaled using a box -_-) 20 Box Jumps (20") 30 Butterfly Sit-ups Going into the WOD, I told myself I had enough of mediocrity. I would stop making excuses. And stop being afraid. That I would just go there . Go to the place where it hurts. Where it is uncomfortable. Where you don't let yourself get away with anything less than your best. In this WOD, "going there" meant pushing through those front squats in the latter rounds. It meant scaling back the HSPU so I could go for intensity, even though I would rather complete HSPU as prescribed. Going there means dropping my pride to be comfortable with where I am, and to mentally go to that difficult place that does not let me give up. When I think about just going there in other areas of my life (psychologically, spiritually, etc.), I'm definitely chall

It has been a while since my last post. Work has been pretty busy. While there are times of incredible stress, His grace is sufficient for me, and His power made perfect in my weakness ( 2 Corinthians 12:9 ) . Paleo Challenge Re-tests: I got stronger! To re-cap, our gym held a 6-week Paleo Challenge. There are before / after tests, including body fat % and fitness tests. The fitness tests consists of two components: strength, and conditioning. While I made significant gains, I could have done better with a cleaner diet and remaining consistent. Nevertheless, I was pretty satisfied, given the circumstances (work, stress, etc.). Here are the results: Strength: CrossFit Totals ( previous scores ) Back squat: 275 lbs (+ 20 lbs) Shoulder press: 135 lbs (+ 20 lbs) Deadlift: 375 lbs (+ 60 lbs) Conditioning: Fran ( previous score ) Time: 6:01 (faster by 1:11) Looking ahead ... The 6-week Paleo Challenge helped me keep a consistent journal of my physical and spiritual fitness.