Real Science - Glassman Archive
236 segments
I'm constantly approached, oh, what is
CrossFit? Like, dude, you got to try it.
And uh it's just moving large loads,
long distances in a short amount of
time. And the person who could do that
the most, I mean, the person that could
do that the quickest is the fittest. So,
when I tell them the CrossFit definition
of
>> Yeah. fitness. They go, "Oh, so what is
model domains that you don't [ __ ]
know.
>> You're [ __ ] up. Don't go there."
>> Okay.
>> Um,
>> all right. Roger.
>> Look, look, work capacity to cross broad
time and motoral domains was an accurate
and precise scientific turf grabbing
claim so that the engineers, the
physiologists who who weren't weak in
science, which very few um, but people
that really understood science would
look at this and know what we were
talking about. And so we take the pointy
end of the spear and we'll backfill. But
it's not for your clients. And and if
and if you say to a client, hey, come
with me. I'm going to I'm going to
increase your work capacity across broad
time and mortal domains. They they'll
run and they ought to, you know. Um
don't you you don't you don't want to
you don't want to tech talk people, you
know. I'm going to make you I'm going to
make you good at everything. I'm going
to get you ready for the unknown and the
unknowable. All that [ __ ] that could
happen might happen. You'll be ready.
Would you do any sports? Are you going
to get better? you know, to keep it
simple. No one's no one wakes up in the
morning, I want to increase my work
capacity across broad time and mortal
domains. Let me look through the phone
book. Oh, these guys do it. It's
there's a there's a profound disconnect.
But what we've done what we've done is
we have we have we have grabbed some
real estate and I and I Roger's a tech
guy and and and a good athlete. You get
it, Roger? What I'm saying? What we've
done is we've we've insulated oursel
from reproach from those that know
science and know it well. And so when
you when you talk to an engineer, a
physicist, a a chemical engineer, and
you say we're we're increasing work
capacity across broad time and modal
domains, you may have to talk to say
something about about modality, but uh
generally they're going to lock on and
go, "Got it." You know, and they
understand that this is measurable, that
you can you can you can graph it. Uh
that this is this is this is we're doing
real science here. Which brings me to
something I did want to to express today
and uh you've you've handed it to me
perfectly here opportunity or or I just
tore it from what you did offer. Um I
haven't found anywhere
rational, logical, scientific, nor
intelligent criticism of what we're
doing, which is which is just just
amazing to me. I've heard this classman
guy's an [ __ ] and he [ __ ] dogs and
you know I mean just crazy stuff but but
no one's no one's taken on work capacity
across broad time and motoral domains
or evidence-based fitness that we want
measurable zero repeatable data you know
regarding power output or that or that
the uh fundamentals of kinematics that
that apply to all things that move
everywhere in the universe also need to
be applied to looking at human
performance. you know, we're not
challenged on that front. And so we
remain on the technical front, on the
scientific level, entirely entirely
unimpeded. And when you run what we're
doing by an engineer, by a physicist, by
a mathematician, by a chemist, they're
like, "Of course that's what you're
doing." I mean, they they fully get it.
It not only does it make sense, but they
can't imagine another way to look at
look at human performance.
And uh this is a this is a real estate
grab that is going to serve us and serve
us well um for for a long long time. And
it's it's already going that way. The
the uh the the brains um
surrounding our support is
unprecedented. Unprecedented. And it's
it's fun. I mean I I really enjoy our
critics because they're [ __ ] stupid.
every single one of them
every
>> um it's this it's the it's those that
feel disenfranchised that they were
denied opportunity or limelight or
spotlight. It's a it's those that were
that were inside and found themselves
outside. Um
and their criticisms are personal.
They're uh scurless. they're they're off
the subject of exercise fizz in science,
you know, and uh they we largely ignore
them and but you know, if if someone
wants to take us on on the level of of
uh uh measurable, observable, repeatable
data of work capacity across broad time
and modal domains of extending this out
through age and and graphing this stuff
and and labeling it health. If they want
to challenge us on the on the validity
or the need for definition, I'd love to
have that discussion. Um, no one will do
that. And the thing is at the point I
think that you understand what it is
that we're doing and claiming, those
that are capable of understanding find
it inconceivable to find fault with it.
You know, these are things I can
measure. I mean, force, distance, and
time. Force, distance, and time. And
this needs to have precedence over
cytochrome C transferase reductase and
12 creatin taking senior football, you
know, [ __ ] Um,
and we're we're about to launch a major
initiative of uh we've got 600 pages of
uh of a a
world-class science education and it is
it's fallen on our laps to teach the
world what science is and what science
isn't. And um really I mean this this
material is just it's a godsend. It was
a uh done by a PhD electrical engineer,
my dad, and it was used uh through for
the state of California and trying to
teach science educators what science is
and what science isn't. And I'm here to
tell you that science is not staying in
front of a group of people and batting
your eyes like a like a scientist, you
know, kind of doing the dorky titation
thing and using big words. I mean, it's
just not that. It's just not that. And
when you and when you know what a client
weighs and you know how tall he or she
is and you and you're taking a stopwatch
to their efforts, um you're doing
science.
Every workout when you record a data
point is an experiment. We're all
training people. We're all getting
results. And that is in it in the
purest, most wonderful, elegant,
essential sense of things science.
and standing in front of people and
talking about endopplasmic reticulum and
drawing a KB citric acid cycle is
[ __ ]
And the question is what what in Kreb
citric acid cycle and your knowledge of
it has ever impacted the way anyone
trained ever anywhere. And the answer is
zero. It's a snow job. it's done to make
and I I' I've watched this process
before and I use the Kreb cycle
specifically because it's taught at the
NSA and I I used to I used to uh uh do
advance work uh for Gold's gym for Neil
Spruce and he loved opening up with the
Kreb citric acid cycle and it was the
guy was just a genius but he could make
these perfect circles on the chalkboard
and start laying these little ferris
wheel things off and he starts talking
about cytochrome seed transferase and
and people would like whoa and you'd
have these hardcore kind of bodybuilding
big ego kind of dudes and he'd start on
this Kreb [ __ ] and they'd all look down
at the paper and hide, you know, cuz
that's why they failed uh biology in the
10th grade because of the Kreb cycle.
And he's now he's got him, you know, and
they and they they would not challenge
him when he's all done. He could and and
you want to buy this [ __ ] over here in
the can and people would because he
knows his [ __ ] You hear that Kreb
stuff? And they'd come up and go, "Man,
he's really smart. That's a really He's
a sharp guy. There's nothing sharp.
There was nothing smart. There was
nothing scientific about it. It's a con
job. Here's the wonderful thing about
science. Real science, legitimate
science is wonderfully, readily
comprehensible,
extraordinarily simple.
And if and if and if you're and you're
hearing something, man, I just can't
make sense of what this guy's saying,
you're being bullshitted.
It's got to be on on, you know, one fact
at a time, real simple. And they
compound. Simple facts build to elegant
truths. And for us, it starts with
measurement
of what? What's it weigh? How far did it
travel? How long did it take? Is there
anyone here that can't use a scale or
read the weights on the bar?
Good. How about a yard stick? Can you
deal with that? Wonderful. Know how to
work a watch?
Anyone can't? All right. You can all do
science.
I anoint you capable. It's that easy.
It's that easy and we're doing it.
Ask follow-up questions or revisit key timestamps.
The speaker argues that CrossFit's core definition—increasing work capacity across broad time and modal domains—is a precise, measurable, and scientifically sound approach to fitness. He emphasizes that the real, evidence-based science of human performance relies on simple measurements of force, distance, and time, rather than complex jargon or academic concepts like the Krebs cycle, which he dismisses as deceptive. He further announces an initiative to educate people on what true science is, stressing that it should be accessible, comprehensible, and focused on data.
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