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Real Science - Glassman Archive

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Real Science - Glassman Archive

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236 segments

0:10

I'm constantly approached, oh, what is

0:12

CrossFit? Like, dude, you got to try it.

0:14

And uh it's just moving large loads,

0:18

long distances in a short amount of

0:20

time. And the person who could do that

0:21

the most, I mean, the person that could

0:22

do that the quickest is the fittest. So,

0:24

when I tell them the CrossFit definition

0:26

of

0:26

>> Yeah. fitness. They go, "Oh, so what is

0:29

model domains that you don't [ __ ]

0:31

know.

0:31

>> You're [ __ ] up. Don't go there."

0:33

>> Okay.

0:33

>> Um,

0:36

>> all right. Roger.

0:36

>> Look, look, work capacity to cross broad

0:39

time and motoral domains was an accurate

0:41

and precise scientific turf grabbing

0:44

claim so that the engineers, the

0:46

physiologists who who weren't weak in

0:48

science, which very few um, but people

0:51

that really understood science would

0:53

look at this and know what we were

0:54

talking about. And so we take the pointy

0:55

end of the spear and we'll backfill. But

0:57

it's not for your clients. And and if

0:59

and if you say to a client, hey, come

1:01

with me. I'm going to I'm going to

1:02

increase your work capacity across broad

1:04

time and mortal domains. They they'll

1:05

run and they ought to, you know. Um

1:08

don't you you don't you don't want to

1:10

you don't want to tech talk people, you

1:12

know. I'm going to make you I'm going to

1:14

make you good at everything. I'm going

1:15

to get you ready for the unknown and the

1:17

unknowable. All that [ __ ] that could

1:18

happen might happen. You'll be ready.

1:21

Would you do any sports? Are you going

1:22

to get better? you know, to keep it

1:24

simple. No one's no one wakes up in the

1:26

morning, I want to increase my work

1:28

capacity across broad time and mortal

1:29

domains. Let me look through the phone

1:30

book. Oh, these guys do it. It's

1:33

there's a there's a profound disconnect.

1:36

But what we've done what we've done is

1:38

we have we have we have grabbed some

1:40

real estate and I and I Roger's a tech

1:43

guy and and and a good athlete. You get

1:45

it, Roger? What I'm saying? What we've

1:47

done is we've we've insulated oursel

1:50

from reproach from those that know

1:51

science and know it well. And so when

1:53

you when you talk to an engineer, a

1:55

physicist, a a chemical engineer, and

1:57

you say we're we're increasing work

1:58

capacity across broad time and modal

2:00

domains, you may have to talk to say

2:02

something about about modality, but uh

2:05

generally they're going to lock on and

2:07

go, "Got it." You know, and they

2:08

understand that this is measurable, that

2:10

you can you can you can graph it. Uh

2:12

that this is this is this is we're doing

2:14

real science here. Which brings me to

2:16

something I did want to to express today

2:19

and uh you've you've handed it to me

2:22

perfectly here opportunity or or I just

2:24

tore it from what you did offer. Um I

2:28

haven't found anywhere

2:31

rational, logical, scientific, nor

2:34

intelligent criticism of what we're

2:36

doing, which is which is just just

2:39

amazing to me. I've heard this classman

2:41

guy's an [ __ ] and he [ __ ] dogs and

2:43

you know I mean just crazy stuff but but

2:46

no one's no one's taken on work capacity

2:48

across broad time and motoral domains

2:50

or evidence-based fitness that we want

2:52

measurable zero repeatable data you know

2:55

regarding power output or that or that

2:57

the uh fundamentals of kinematics that

3:00

that apply to all things that move

3:02

everywhere in the universe also need to

3:04

be applied to looking at human

3:05

performance. you know, we're not

3:07

challenged on that front. And so we

3:09

remain on the technical front, on the

3:11

scientific level, entirely entirely

3:14

unimpeded. And when you run what we're

3:17

doing by an engineer, by a physicist, by

3:19

a mathematician, by a chemist, they're

3:21

like, "Of course that's what you're

3:23

doing." I mean, they they fully get it.

3:24

It not only does it make sense, but they

3:26

can't imagine another way to look at

3:28

look at human performance.

3:30

And uh this is a this is a real estate

3:33

grab that is going to serve us and serve

3:36

us well um for for a long long time. And

3:40

it's it's already going that way. The

3:42

the uh the the brains um

3:48

surrounding our support is

3:50

unprecedented. Unprecedented. And it's

3:53

it's fun. I mean I I really enjoy our

3:56

critics because they're [ __ ] stupid.

4:02

every single one of them

4:05

every

4:08

>> um it's this it's the it's those that

4:10

feel disenfranchised that they were

4:12

denied opportunity or limelight or

4:14

spotlight. It's a it's those that were

4:16

that were inside and found themselves

4:18

outside. Um

4:21

and their criticisms are personal.

4:24

They're uh scurless. they're they're off

4:28

the subject of exercise fizz in science,

4:31

you know, and uh they we largely ignore

4:34

them and but you know, if if someone

4:37

wants to take us on on the level of of

4:40

uh uh measurable, observable, repeatable

4:42

data of work capacity across broad time

4:43

and modal domains of extending this out

4:45

through age and and graphing this stuff

4:47

and and labeling it health. If they want

4:49

to challenge us on the on the validity

4:52

or the need for definition, I'd love to

4:54

have that discussion. Um, no one will do

4:57

that. And the thing is at the point I

4:59

think that you understand what it is

5:00

that we're doing and claiming, those

5:02

that are capable of understanding find

5:04

it inconceivable to find fault with it.

5:07

You know, these are things I can

5:08

measure. I mean, force, distance, and

5:09

time. Force, distance, and time. And

5:11

this needs to have precedence over

5:14

cytochrome C transferase reductase and

5:16

12 creatin taking senior football, you

5:18

know, [ __ ] Um,

5:21

and we're we're about to launch a major

5:24

initiative of uh we've got 600 pages of

5:28

uh of a a

5:30

world-class science education and it is

5:33

it's fallen on our laps to teach the

5:35

world what science is and what science

5:37

isn't. And um really I mean this this

5:39

material is just it's a godsend. It was

5:41

a uh done by a PhD electrical engineer,

5:44

my dad, and it was used uh through for

5:47

the state of California and trying to

5:49

teach science educators what science is

5:51

and what science isn't. And I'm here to

5:53

tell you that science is not staying in

5:55

front of a group of people and batting

5:57

your eyes like a like a scientist, you

5:59

know, kind of doing the dorky titation

6:01

thing and using big words. I mean, it's

6:03

just not that. It's just not that. And

6:06

when you and when you know what a client

6:08

weighs and you know how tall he or she

6:10

is and you and you're taking a stopwatch

6:12

to their efforts, um you're doing

6:14

science.

6:15

Every workout when you record a data

6:17

point is an experiment. We're all

6:19

training people. We're all getting

6:21

results. And that is in it in the

6:23

purest, most wonderful, elegant,

6:25

essential sense of things science.

6:28

and standing in front of people and

6:30

talking about endopplasmic reticulum and

6:32

drawing a KB citric acid cycle is

6:33

[ __ ]

6:35

And the question is what what in Kreb

6:38

citric acid cycle and your knowledge of

6:40

it has ever impacted the way anyone

6:43

trained ever anywhere. And the answer is

6:46

zero. It's a snow job. it's done to make

6:49

and I I' I've watched this process

6:51

before and I use the Kreb cycle

6:53

specifically because it's taught at the

6:55

NSA and I I used to I used to uh uh do

6:59

advance work uh for Gold's gym for Neil

7:01

Spruce and he loved opening up with the

7:03

Kreb citric acid cycle and it was the

7:06

guy was just a genius but he could make

7:07

these perfect circles on the chalkboard

7:09

and start laying these little ferris

7:11

wheel things off and he starts talking

7:13

about cytochrome seed transferase and

7:15

and people would like whoa and you'd

7:17

have these hardcore kind of bodybuilding

7:20

big ego kind of dudes and he'd start on

7:22

this Kreb [ __ ] and they'd all look down

7:24

at the paper and hide, you know, cuz

7:26

that's why they failed uh biology in the

7:29

10th grade because of the Kreb cycle.

7:30

And he's now he's got him, you know, and

7:32

they and they they would not challenge

7:34

him when he's all done. He could and and

7:35

you want to buy this [ __ ] over here in

7:36

the can and people would because he

7:39

knows his [ __ ] You hear that Kreb

7:40

stuff? And they'd come up and go, "Man,

7:42

he's really smart. That's a really He's

7:43

a sharp guy. There's nothing sharp.

7:45

There was nothing smart. There was

7:46

nothing scientific about it. It's a con

7:48

job. Here's the wonderful thing about

7:51

science. Real science, legitimate

7:53

science is wonderfully, readily

7:56

comprehensible,

7:57

extraordinarily simple.

8:00

And if and if and if you're and you're

8:01

hearing something, man, I just can't

8:02

make sense of what this guy's saying,

8:04

you're being bullshitted.

8:06

It's got to be on on, you know, one fact

8:08

at a time, real simple. And they

8:10

compound. Simple facts build to elegant

8:12

truths. And for us, it starts with

8:15

measurement

8:17

of what? What's it weigh? How far did it

8:20

travel? How long did it take? Is there

8:23

anyone here that can't use a scale or

8:25

read the weights on the bar?

8:28

Good. How about a yard stick? Can you

8:31

deal with that? Wonderful. Know how to

8:34

work a watch?

8:36

Anyone can't? All right. You can all do

8:38

science.

8:40

I anoint you capable. It's that easy.

8:44

It's that easy and we're doing it.

Interactive Summary

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.

Suggested questions

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