SS 152 – StrongFit with Julien Pineau

Grant and Heavey are joined by Julien Pineau of StrongFit.com as they discuss how Julien seeks to shape the current culture of CrossFit that seemingly caters to only the top 1% of elite CrossFitters. Julien hopes to take care of the other 99% who consist of average people who want to do CrossFit because they simply want to feel good, be part of a strong community, and live a healthy lifestyle.

 

This episode is packed with powerful insights from Julien about concepts such as functional movements, defining CrossFit as a training system versus CrossFit as a sport, people’s mindset around pain, and most importantly, giving coaches the support they need.

 

[01:44] A Little Backstory on Julien: From Paris to Africa

 

Julien grew up in Paris, France, and later moved to Africa where his uncle was teacher at a local high school. He was the only white student enrolled at the school and about seven years younger than everybody in his class.

 

Back in Paris, Julien had a soft upbringing with his father being a movie director and his mother an actress. Being in Africa opened his eyes to another world – unnamed potentially fatal diseases , no running water, no electricity – it was like living hundreds of years ago.

 

His experience in Africa gave him was the ability to be comfortable in any situation, which eventually would shaped his entire life.

 

[04:55] Traveling for StrongFit, Living Off His Luggage

 

Julien has been on the road since August 2017 and has gone through 15-20 countries, staying two to three weeks per place. His home base? His three 20-kg-luggages. Regardless of how it sounds, he loves every second of it! This is because he has his mission in mind constantly driving him forward.

 

Julien understands his lifestyle requires a certain amount of structure, but being the unstructured person that he is, his crazy life fits the way his brain works. So the first thing he looks for when he’s in a new place is where to get a double espresso in the morning to start his day. Aside from coffee, his morning routine includes having breakfast at the coffee shop, studying chess, work, and training. Not only that, he always travels with his 12-year-old daughter who does online schooling and other extracurricular activities. Julien knows his daughter will be stronger and wiser from being so well-traveled.

 

Having traveled to so many countries, Julien stresses how people around the world are basically the same.

 

[11:37] Movement and Pain

 

As a movement specialist, Julien seeks to fix people with movement issues. These are people who have gone through hundreds and thousands of repetitions that end up hurting themselves.

 

Julien comes from the idea that the human body is perfect and we mess it up along the way as we go through life. There has to be a way to reverse those effects. For instance, if you have an injury that took two years to develop, it means you’re moving incorrectly for two years.

 

Most of us accept pain as a reality way too easily. There are ways to move properly so that the body doesn’t break down.

 

[13:10] Crossfit as a Training System versus Crossfit as a Sport

 

Heavey agrees with Julien in that we shouldn’t have to experience pain as humans. Crossfit began as a health system designed for people to become healthy. They’re able to live their lives outside of the gym. However now, it has actually transformed into something that is too often practiced exclusively in the gym. It’s now focused entirely on the games, the open, and performance. Heavey adds that it’s this confusion that propagates this idea of injury and accepting that.

 

Julien explains we have to define the difference between crossfit as a training system and crossfit as a sport. Having gone to gyms around the world, competitive crossfitters represent 1% of the population. But amidst this small percentage, people seem to program based on them.

 

He suggests going back to Crossfit.com from ten years ago and look at their workouts (for example, barbells were used once a month, not once a day).

 

[15:15] People Doing Crossfit Wrong

 

When Heavey used to own a gym, he would have people come up to him telling him that they’re switching to the gym down the street since they weren’t hero workouts multiple times per week like the other gyms were doing. People have in their head that it’s the thing they should be aspiring toward if they’re doing crossfit. However in reality, it’s not a healthy approach.

 

Grant raises a valid question about whether the problem lies in doing them too often or doing them wrong. Furthermore, that if we did them correctly, we could do them everyday and there won’t be any problem.

 

Julien explains that essentially, we’re doing it wrong. For example, there are certain guidelines we need to follow in evolution. They’ve been thrown away when the barbell came around, but the body has never adapted to that. We ask the body to do things that go against the guidelines of evolution and we end up breaking down.

 

[17:22] Is the Barbell Back Squat Really the King of Exercises?

 

For example, we say that the barbell back squat is the king of exercises. Taking away the barbell for a second. Julien says jumping is the only movement pattern that requires you to create power in doing squats. You don’t break parallel in order to jump.

 

Look at any strong man lifting a boulder and you’ll see their hips are always higher than the knees. The same thing with doing deadlifts.

 

Heavey says we see the squat as the standard for strength in this community when Julien is probably suggesting that we look at things like hinging and deadlift type position.

 

[18:52] Barbell Back Squat versus Hinging

 

Julien says hinging is far more functional than doing a back squat. Try to find a position with a maximum load that you’d be holding your hands on with your hips below your knees. None. Instead, the first thing you would basically do is hinge.

 

He’s not saying not to do back squats, but he clarifies there is no such practical movement. For 300,000 years, there is no such thing as a barbell back squat as the single movement pattern. That means it has to be a combination of movement patterns. It means there’s a skill involved in barbell back squat.

 

If you want a back squat, the idea of going from below parallel all the way up in the same movement pattern, for example, in an external tuck is a mistake. Because it can only be applied for jumping. The second you go below parallel, you lose all power in external tuck. If you try to create external tuck from the bottom, you will destroy your hips and lower back.

 

[20:26] The Chinese Squat Differently

 

The Chinese have a different way of squatting because they try to use certain muscles that belong to hinging way more than it belongs to a jump pattern.

 

[21:25] Understanding the Planes of Movement

 

Julien suggests you look at the movement patterns the body is capable of (up and down (sagittal plane); to and away from you (frontal plane); the median axis (left versus right), and rotations (transverse plane).

 

Out of these four planes of movement, we often use only one. Out of 300,000 years of certain movements and reducing them to only twelve (which is basic in crossfit) that are only in one plane of movement. This will result in imbalances. Over months and years and after hundreds and thousands of repetitions with weights, eventually you will end up causing trauma to the joints. This is because the large muscle groups will not develop the way they should. In turn, it will cause bad stress on the joints that may cause injuries.

 

[23:02] Respect the Guidelines of Evolution

 

If you were to move correctly, you can do just as much work as you want. You just have to respect the guidelines evolution gave us. Essentially you have to define them. If you can move accordingly, then the body is capable of great things.

 

Julien ultimately suggests that the volume is not nearly the problem. Instead, the problem is we’re not respecting the guidelines. There are certain energy systems you have to respect. This is the idea of homeostasis – the quality of the system to gain and maintain balance.

 

Respect he energy systems. Respect the planes of movement. Respect the types of contractions – concentric, eccentric, isometric. Crossfit is mostly concentric.

 

[24:03] What is Movement? Load, Carry, and Hold

 

Julien defines movement as a load, a carry, or a hold. He feels that, nowadays, Crossfit only loads. It doesn’t carry nor does it hold anymore. Julien points out that these were the imbalances that have been built using crossfit as a sport. It was never part of the crossfit as a training system.

 

Greg Glassman wanted people to carry, to hold, to load. Use dumbbells using left arm and right arm, etc. bench press, push-ups, different energy systems, muscle failure. This was the soul of the training system with intensity.

 

[24:45] Crossfit as a Training System: What It Should Be

 

Ideally, the two main elements of the training system are intensity and being functional by using all those planes of movements and energy systems.

 

Fast-forward to today, you see only twelve movements in one planar movement with people that just want to do 40-minute AMRAPs. The result is an imbalance that goes against what Greg Glassman wanted. Julien believes we should go back to Greg Glassman’s crossfit instead of going with Dave Castro’s crossfit.

 

[25:50] Examples of Functional Movements

 

Julien clearly doesn’t want to take away anything. Rather, he wants to add to it and correct systems. There are ways to do this to add work without taking away crossfit.

 

Take a day off. Grab a sandbag. Carry it for a hundred meters. This will fry your hamstrings. Your lower back will be pumped. In the meantime, you work that internal tuck. Another example is pulling a rope and targeting your lats so your lats can work in the frontal planes for once. Then get those biceps going. No need to do dips. Do it on bars as well. Then you’re suddenly going into an assistance work program.

 

Add movements that are more functional (ex. pushing a sled, dragging it, carrying a sandbag, pulling a rope). Instead of pressing a barbell, press a D-ball. Instead of snatching, take a 20-pound med ball and throw it as high as you can. Throw it as far high and back. Run through that so you’re also sprinting. That means you’ve done a triple extension with a sprint. It’s a crossfit workout, but you’ve done it using your muscles in a different way. On a med ball, instead of a hook grip, you have to squeeze the ball so now you’re engaging your pec.

 

[28:50] Working with Crossfits, Not Against Them

 

Julien is neither working for crossfit coaches or against them. He’s working with them. What he wants is for the coaches to have the capacity to help people at the gym. He wants to shape the culture of the gyms so they take care of the 99% instead of making crossfit about the 1%.

 

Julien has worked with athletes but people have to understand it’s not crossfit. 99% of crossfit is common people. They come to the gym to feel better, for the community, and for performance.

 

[31:05] Coaches Follow What They See in the Regionals

 

Moreover, the games are changing. Julien sees how the games are changing the mentality. He loves to see Regionals without barbell because it’s going to force people to go back to dumbbells. This gives permission to crossfit box owners to use dumbbells again. Julien adds they have to put it at Regionals otherwise people don’t want to do it. It made him the happiest guy in the room.

 

Having a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, Julien adds the biggest problem we have is to have the world champion black belt explaining their favorite sweep to a white belt.

 

[33:08] Julien’s Goal: Help the 99%

 

This said, although he trains some of the top 1%, his goal in life is to help the 99%. He wants to help the coaches do their job the best way they can and not see a high percentage of the crossfit population getting hurt.

 

Everywhere he goes, 60% to 70% of people have shoulder issues in crossfit. Julien firmly says we can fix that by developing the weak side. Otherwise, you conclude and blame it on being old. This is the part when people accept pain and say it is the way it is. Julien totally disagrees with this.

 

[35:34] Pain Is Not Normal

 

Julien reiterates that the first message is, it’s not normal to be in pain. We see that way too much in society. How can the body be that weak? How is it possible that we survived evolution?

 

The key is to educate coaches and shape the culture of the gym in a way that we can help people move better. Only then will we see most of those injuries will go away.

 

[36:25] Coaches’ Response to Julien’s Seminars

 

Fortunately, the coaches who attend his seminars are very receptive. The only thing they complain about is how short two days is to explain his entire system. So he gives them the principles. But what then?

 

Julien sees this as a common problem in the industry is there is no system for coaches. There’s no one to turn to. How do you shape coaches into becoming better? Coaches do it for the passion. But where do they go? No one is coming to them. This said, Julien understands how tough the situation is for owners and coaches.

 

[38:15] What Julien’s Seminar is Like

 

Julien will go to a gym for three weeks to witness their culture and what the coaches are doing. He will do a seminar and do a five-day Coaches Week where coaches are put through a more precise vision of the system and movements. He will do one-on-one movements, training sessions, coaching classes. Again, he is seeking to shape the culture of the gym.

 

For Julien, the internet is a sea of information with little knowledge. Coaches can’t just read a piece of paper. They need to move. They need to see the movement. They need to understand what the point is. This is why Julien goes around to different gyms demonstrating the proper movements and to show them how to coach it.. He will also show the class how it’s done to show to the community what it’s like.

 

[40:20] Where You’ll Find StrongFit Soon

 

Julien is holding a seminar at Invictus in early December. He’s working on his specialty courses which he will be launching in December.

 

Moreover, Julien believes there’s a need to reshape the coaching culture in crossfit. They have a lot of information but so little knowledge, and he wants to do his part to help.

 

Julien will be in San Diego in early December and throughout the whole month. He will be in Australia in February. He will stay for about a month in each place so he can have a deeper impact.

 

[41:30] A Traveling Circus, Not Business Consulting

 

He doesn’t want to be a business consultant who comes to a seminar for a week and then leaves. Instead, he wants to be a traveling circus – meeting the community and connecting with people.

 

It’s like planting a seed. You watch it grow. You go back months later then you see how things are starting to get shaped.

 

If you’re interested to see him in action, check out www.strongfit.com and sign up for the seminar on the Coaches Week or shoot them an email at [email protected].

 

Again, the problem is coaches not knowing what to do next after learning the basic principles. Julien is aware of the need for follow-up. He is working on giving more opportunities to get better at the system.

 

[45:00] It’s On You!

 

Part of the reason Julien is doing all this is that he used to be that coach before who didn’t really have enough resources. For him, the system where you leave other people behind is a system that fails people. He knows of coaches who have great passion for helping. But telling them “it’s on you” is, for him, the worst approach ever. He is a humanist first at heart. As a humanist, he has to help people.

 

[46:10] A Huge Identity Crisis

 

In all of his seminars, he has about 60% of gym owners who are interested in being de-affiliated. There is a huge identity crisis among crossfit box owners right now and they can’t say it loud or they’d otherwise be bashed. They’re not all geniuses. These are just guys whose hearts are in the right place. They want to help people and you can’t just tell them to suck up.

 

As a response, Julien would tell owners who wish to de-affiliate is to stay with crossfit. He explains the reason they met is because of crossfit. Having a very strong community, you don’t want to cut the cords. You want to be a part of that.

 

Conversely, you have to recognize, too, that it’s a legitimate question.

 

[49:35] Advice to Average Joe Crossfitters

 

Julien’s advice to the average people who want to do crossfit is to first study the game. Go back ten years ago, and look at how they did it back then. Check out Greg Glassman’s YouTube videos to understand that what you see on Instagram is not the average crossfitter but the extremely fit people doing amazing feats. Understand that the 40-minute AMRAP may not be the best thing for you. Perhaps doing assistance work will help you reach your goals instead.

 

Moreover, there is a need to shape what people share on the web. The first thing he asks coaches is what their value is. He sees young women having pain issues now which may be common but it’s not normal. We have to start looking at what’s happening. Many people have shoulder and back issues. We have to take care of our people.

 

[54:55] Let’s Go Back to Glassman’s Crossfit!

 

Julien also says the Regionals this year is different from last year. Now, they’re starting to promote the older people again and the heavier people. They’re starting to go back on the message of health. Hopefully, we’re going back to Greg Glassman’s crossfit.

 

 

Links:

StrongFit.com

Follow Julien on Instagram @strongfit1

@strengthandscotch on Instagram

[email protected]

Greg Glassman YouTube videos