Everyone says "Shared suffering creates connection." What the heck does that mean? Let me explain.

Training alone is hard. But when you add a small group of people united on a similar purpose, magic happens.

The gym was electric this morning! The 7 am and 8 am was packed. The energy from my friends definitely helped.

Today I struggled through a barbell complex of 1 clean, 1 hang squat clean, 1 front squat and 1 jerk.

My shoulder started screaming at 95 pounds. I ignored it at 115. But I missed the jerk at 135 and I knew it had given me all it had.

In the old days I would have clenched my teeth and kept pushing. But when you grind on an injury, eventually a price must be paid.

I finished 3 more working sets at 135 lbs without the jerk.

After the complex was a fun little hamstring and grip session.

4 sets of 8 deadlifts every two minutes at 185 lbs. So far so good, right?

But... Tempo. 3 seconds down, fast up, and hold for 1 second. A set should take 32-40 seconds. Tastes like burning!

My finisher was a little Hyrox jam session of 3 rounds of 300 meter row, 200 meter run, 100 meter farmer's carry at race pace.

My advice is find your tribe. A tight circle of motivated people can change your life.

If you're having a bad day, you need the gym. If you're having a good day, the gym needs you.

You never know when your high-five and smile can make a difference for someone else.

How does it feel to look at the whiteboard at 6am on a frosty morning and smile?

Sometimes the workout is something you hate. Those are the days when you learn.

But occasionally the workout is something you love. That is your chance to really test yourself.

Today I wore an actual hoodie to the early class. It was 14 C. For us, that is extremely cold. Everyone asked me, "¿A ti también te pasa frío?" Yes, it's cold for me too. My blood has thinned after years in the jungle.

After a deliberate, focused warmup of 3 rounds of 400 m light jog, 10 scap pull ups and 10 yoga pushups, I grabbed a blue kettle bell.

I did 50 meters each arm of overhead walking holding the handle of the KB upside down.

I did 15 ring rows, followed by 8 seated one arm dumbbell presses each arm. I did 3 rounds of that.

Then I looped a fat skipping rope over the pullup bar and tied a big knot.

Me and Josue did alternating rounds of max L-sit rope climbs, and rope pull ups with alternating the top hand on the rope.

He's doing a Hyrox in February and I'm doing March in Cancun. This really works the grip and forearms. Perfect for sled pull and farmer's carry practice.

And finally, the Workout of the Day. Check this one out.

FOR TIME:

75 toes-to-bar
every time you break, do 8 burpee box jumps (24")

What's your strategy?

I knew if I went too fast, my heart rate would be the limiter, and I'd end up in burpee jail.

Should I wear grips or bare hands? I decided to go bare handed with some chalk.

3..2...1...go!

I took a big breath at the stretch position on every rep. I got 26 reps on my first set, fresh as a daisy. After the BBJ I was 2:32 on the clock. And then?

It just got harder and harder.

I went 26-17-12-11-9 for a time of 13:32

Happy? Yes.

But I was happier for this new lady. She's been coming for 2 months. She got her first pushup today without using her knees. She got up beet red from the effort and grinning from ear to ear.

How can you not love that?

Some people say the Universe will smile at you if you pay attention. Let me explain.

I'm currently training for the 2026 CrossFit Open. Every year there are double-unders in the event. Yesterday I said to my wife, "I need to practice some workouts with double-unders".

Guess what was on the whiteboard this morning?

For Time. 22:00 cap

60 DU
30 cals bike/row or run 600m
30 DBL snatch
Rest 2:00
90 DU
30 cals bike/row or run 600m
30 DBL snatch
Rest 2:00
120 DU
30 DBL snatch

Ha ha! And since I'm also training for my first Hyrox race in March, I picked the runs.

I finished in 19:04 using a 35 lb dumbbell for the snatches. Fitness achieved!

Last year I placed 6th in Mexico in my age group in the Open. I took notes and made a 10 page checklist of what I ate, how I trained and how I did my recovery. I'll pin the free pdf in my bio for you.

I did some accessory work after my cool down. I did banded sets of 3 chest-to-bar pullups every 30 seconds. I did 2 rounds with purple, 2 with red, 2 with yellow and then finally 6 singles without bands.

It's 9:15 am. I've consumed 50 grams of protein, trained, and it's time for a quick siesta.

How's your day going so far?

Whew! It was a good one. It was a long one. Hyrox training is in full swing.

Today's Partner WOD. Run together. One person does work, one rests alternating until 30 reps. We used the 25 lb dumbbells.

Run 400 m together.
30 strict chin ups
Run 400 m together.
30 DBL DB hang clean and jerks
Run 400 m together.
30 DBL DB farmer carry walking lunges
Run 400 m together.
30 DBL DB front squats

I did 3 rounds in an hour. Almost 5k of runs, lots of sweaty dumbbell reps.

The surprise? We started out alternating 5 chins each. By round two we were doing singles. I haven't done chins in ages. What a bicep pump!

The whole thing felt great. Fitness!

Tomorrow is a rest day.

In mixed martial arts everyone says the worst punch is the one you don't see coming.

In CrossFit the toughest workouts are the ones when you look at the whiteboard and say "that doesn't look too bad"!

The gym was packed this morning at 7 am. The kids are back in school, and our corner of Mexico is full speed into the new year.

The strength portion was 3 rounds of 8 Bulgarian split squats and 8 jumping lunges on each side. I used a 35 lb kettlebell on the Bulgarians. The jumping lunges were bodyweight and pure sizzling fire.

The metcon was simple. 2 minutes of max effort work. 1 minute of rest. 4 stations. Do the whole thing twice.

A. Row or echo bike
B. Wall walks
C. Burpees over kb with a double jump
D. Sumo high pulls with 53 lb kb

I did 32 cals on the rower round 1. 28 on the second. I was in survival mode on minute 2 of round 2!

I did 8 wall walks in round 1. 6 on round 2. These were tough but manageable. Not quite 100% intensity because I was chatting with the lady next to me trying to encourage her.

The burpees were interesting. Do a burpee, then jump over the kettlebell then immediately jump back over. I got 16 and 17.

The sumo high pulls I got 27 in round 1 and 35 in round 2. Shoulders were smoked.

I was spent, absolutely dripping with sweat.

I rested 3 minutes then did a "cash out" of 800 meter run in 4:15 or less. I was 4:04.

An extremely satisfying block of work. With the CrossFit Open just a month away, sessions like today are an illuminating test of fitness.

Keep going. You got this.