Alex "Gus" Gustafson

  • CrossFit L1 Seminar

    My own body scared me all my life. For the last two years, I’ve been on a mission to change that.

    What helped me turn the corner was trusting in coaches. I stopped expecting myself to know everything before going into the gym: let a coach guide you. Stop racing around the internet for answers: listen to the coach who’s watching you right now. Give it the best you can that day: the coach will tell you if you need to ease up or pull back. If you don’t have much that day: show up anyway and let the coach help you make the most of the time.

    I don’t know exactly where my life is going to take me: but I know I can help people with my own example. And if someone asks me what I do, I want to share it proficiently. So what’s scared me for the last few months was signing up for the CrossFit L1 seminar, the first step to becoming a coach of the CrossFit methodology.

    The experience was incredible. I learned so much and everything I was scared of proved to be so different than expected, that I never should’ve feared it to begin with.

    It was the right thing to do right now.

    Planning out what’s next.

    Update: I passed the test, earning my CF-L1.

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  • Native Land Search for Pipe Wrench

    In addition to being a subscriber, I’m now a proud contributor to Pipe Wrench magazine. For their third volume, I created a WordPress plugin that lets readers search for if their location is on unceded indigenous land.

    The tool is an implementation of the map and API project run by Native Land Digital.

    You can try out the search on most any article in this month’s volume of Pipe Wrench. I’d recommend reading the featured essay, “Ghost Acres“.

    If you’d like to use the plugin on your own WordPress site, it is available on Github: https://github.com/alexjgustafson/native-lands

    Update Sep 3, 2021: the plugin is now also available in the WordPress.org repo: https://wordpress.org/plugins/native-lands-search/

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  • The Little Gym Keeps Growing

    Our home gym is a cozy, efficient pressure cooker of fitness.

    For Father’s Day, Amber got me the new set of 50lb dumbbells.

    Other additions since I last blogged about the setup:

    • 20lb dumbbells
    • 10lb dumbbells
    • Abmat
    • 100lb Strongman Sandbag
    • PVC pipe
    • New Buddy Lee Ropemaster jump rope

    All proven to be great investments as I continue to work out primarily at home instead of a gym.

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  • 2020 Reading Review

    Looking back, I see 2020 as a year of re-establishing my principles. One of those was retraining a habit of reading. In March, my best friend Danny and I started texting each other everyday that we’d read at least 10 pages of a book. Any book counted: fiction/non-fiction, light/heavy, intellectual/dumb. In addition to the following I read many many comic books that I didn’t want to take time to list.

    So while this is not a long list, it’s more than I would’ve read without some intention built in. And now that I’m reading again I’m sure I’ll do more in 2021.

    Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    Another entry in Taleb’s Incerto series of books. Fun, interesting, and at its worst still great content to argue against.

    Jump Rope Training by Buddy Lee

    Buddy Lee is incomparable in the jump rope world. This was his first book. It has me convinced to take his seminar at some point. They had one scheduled at a CrossFit affiliate nearby, but like so many other events it was rescheduled then cancelled in response to Covid-19.

    Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

    Danny and I thoroughly discussed this on our podcast this summer:

    https://share.fireside.fm/episode/pCUtAqeS+5zVRp3xm

    The Money Tree by Chris Guillebeau

    Quick read, the kind of book you’d give to a high schooler with an entrepreneurial itch.

    Happy City by Charles Montgomery

    Long on my “to read” list from Mr. Money Mustache

    Walkable City Rules by Jeff Speck

    Interesting to read this during a pandemic that seems to counter-punch all the desires of the new urbanists. But got a lot out of this.

    Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

    Heard about this from the Focused podcast. Enjoyable with lots of tips you can pick and choose from.

    An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

    A novel and its sequel. The second is better than the first but you’d have to read both. This was actually my second or third time starting Remarkable but my mom was so confident I’d enjoy the sequel I made a point to finish it this time. The second half had me page-turning but for whatever reason the first 50 pages just didn’t grab me like you’d think.

    Learning to Breathe Fire by J. C. Herz

    A history of CrossFit and its early prominent figures. Fun read.

    Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin

    A predecessor of the sort of content I enjoy from Cal Newport. An exploration into deliberate practice theory.

    Range by David Epstein

    A corollary to Talent is Overrated touting the need for diversity of expertise in both teams and individuals, as opposed to betting on a speciality.

    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

    A thoughtful novel worthy of its own post; also recommended to me by my mom. It came out several years ago but its setting in a pandemic made it good 2020 reading. Five-stars and would recommend. HBO is making it into a miniseries starring Mackenzie Davis which I’ll definitely watch.

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  • My Lockdown Gym

    Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all at their worst yet in the United States. In Kentucky, a new set of restrictions has gone into place and in general I support them all. Gym capacities are restricted as part of those measures. While they’re not closed, I’m electing to train in my home gym until further notice. I’ll still keep my membership at White Buffalo to support them while they weather all this.

    I thought it’d be fun to think through all the stuff I have available to me. When it’s all listed out, it’s obvious I’m not deprived at all.

    Running. I have routes from my front door for 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m runs. I have measuring tape and cones (okay, cat litter jugs with some water in them) to set up for shuttle sprints. MapMyRun for long runs, jogging, intervals, and tempo running. Fancy running shoes I got from the fancy running shoe store.

    Pull up bar, also useful for knees-to-elbow, hanging knee raises. My bar is stable enough for toes-to-bar but I don’t have the core strength for that movement yet. The room my bar is in doesn’t have the clearance for muscle-ups but I’m not there yet either.

    Rings hanging from the bar for ring rows, low-ring muscle-ups, dips, L-sit and other static holds.

    35lb dumbbells. My ideal weight for dumbbells at intensity: thrusters, squats, shoulder press, push press, clean and jerk, single-arm dumbbell snatches. Better-than-nothing for accessory work: single-arm stiff legged-deadlifts, bent-over rows, farmers carry, overhead carry, lunges with load. Substitute heavy lifts with additional volume of dumbbell variations and accessory movements. Substitute olympic barbell lifts with dumbbell variations plus technique work with broom handle.

    5lb dumbbells. The 4-year-old likes to workout too.

    30lb kettlebell. Swings, single-arm swings, clean and jerks, snatches, windmills. Would prefer a 53-lb now, but this one has served me well for 4 years.

    Jump rope. Still working on long strings of basic bounce single-unders and alternating single-foot single-unders. If I get those more stable can move on to double-unders.

    No-equipment training: push-ups, air squats, pistol squats (still working on these, but they’re coming,) burpees, broad jumps, sit-ups (substitute Abmat with towel), wall walks, shoulder taps, planks, mountain climbers, hollow rocks, hollow holds, v-ups, candlesticks.

    Mobility and recovery: Foam roller, lacrosse ball, peanut balls, Theragun, GOWOD mobility app. Mats for yoga and stretching.

    Bands for pull-up assistance, mobility work, and accessories.

    Programming: CrossFit Linchpin’s limited equipment option. Endurance training schedule for half marathon in May. Beyond the Whiteboard app.

    I’d love to have olympic barbells and bumper plates, lifting platforms, rope climbing, pull-up rigs with more height and clearance, wall balls, rowers, and a bunch of other amenities I’m used to at White Buffalo. Not to mention the value of in-person coaching, community, and the habits around attending classes and going to a specific location for a task. But if I couldn’t get fit with all the stuff I do have, it wouldn’t be the equipment’s fault. I made the most of the summer and I’ll make the most of this.

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  • New Glasses

    Been three years since my last pair.

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  • A New Line of Work

    Today is my last day working at OOHology. It took a lot of time and consideration, but I decided it would be best in both the short and long term if I left the company.

    Starting tomorrow I’ll be a full-time dad, and I’ll be focusing on that at a minimum until we feel like we can safely send her back to preschool. But part of what precipitated this change is also that my relationship with Grace has continued to change. We’re in a time of life where we really get a lot out of our hours together and I want to make the most of it. Whereas the early years were… not my favorite… I can see where this time of life might be what I’ll remember most fondly. Removing my work obligations will only help me continue that.

    Professionally, I think I’ve settled that client work just isn’t for me. For nearly three years it’s been my job, at two different agencies and freelance. All of those opportunities were the right thing for me at the time, and I have no regrets. I also learned so much! But when I’m ready to work again, I know it needs to be in a different kind of role.

    Lastly, Ber is working full-time now. Our family needs to adjust to her odd hours, but we also have her wages and health insurance so this move is not as risky as when I went full-time freelance in 2018.

    This confluence of short-term and long-term isn’t always so clear, but it is this time. It’s scary to leave a job where I was doing well during such an unsure environment, but it really seems like the right move for my family now and later.

    If you’ll excuse me, the four year old seems to have an issue with some Lego.

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  • Weightlifting Cheatsheet

    I’m procrastinating real work, so here’s a project I made that I’ve wanted for a while. Alex’s Max Cheatsheet

    (more…)

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  • Absurdist Parenting

    Three-year-olds are sometimes called “three-nagers.” They can go from excited and playful to moody and recalcitrant with seemingly no explanation.

    In those moments, I sometimes get upset too. I like playing with Grace, even to the point of spoiling. But when I take the time and effort to put her fun first, that three-nager attitude doesn’t just go away, so at my worst I feel like she’s intentionally being ungrateful. And that’s not fun for either of us.

    When I’m at the top of my parenting game though, I notice that she actually has plenty of opportunity for fun but she’s hitting a mood. A great tool for these moments is to find something completely absurd to make her mind reset.

    “Did you know the sky is pink when you’re not looking?” has worked – she instantly switched from grumpy to playful, trying look down then back up at the sky.

    One day she would respond to everything I said with “NO!” so I timed out a click of our car’s panic button with her response and by the time she was done yelling, she was smiling at the distraction. That was a better game than ‘yell at daddy.’

    If you just need something to change, a bit of craziness can be effective.

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  • Still Reading Recently

    The Art of Procrastination by John Perry

    What some may think is tongue in cheek is actually brutally honest in this short, funny book. My wife and I are both procrastinators, so we had a good evening me reading this book instead of working and her listening to the best laugh lines every ten minutes or so. A good read for anyone feeling a bout of shame about their own procrastinating nature.

    Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

    The scariest Locke & Key volume yet. I really wish I could go back in time and read these books as they were released. Every page is well done. It hurts to see the Locke family going through such horrific things, but it’s the very best sort of horror… perhaps the best sort of fiction… that makes us thankful to have a less interesting problem to tackle.

    Ghost Tree by Curnow, Gane, and Herring

    The final book of this four-issue miniseries from IDW came out and holy cow the ending was jarring. The whole story is ethereal and strange, but I loved it, but suddenly I wasn’t sure how to handle it. They certainly accomplished the goal of making me thinking about this story for days after finishing it.

    Another note about comics

    I started collecting comic books in May. I love it. I’ve had phases where I’d get a trade paperback on a friend’s suggestion or if I saw something interesting at the used bookstore. But a new comic shop opened up near us and I wanted to check it out and support it… and now I look forward to every Wednesday. My favorite book is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, which happens to be ending in December. If you’d like to read the last storyline of Squirrel Girl along with me, look for #47 on August 14th.

    That said, I may not always mention all the comic books… but rest assured I’m reading them.

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