Unas líneas con el Coach Mads — y porqué los nórdicos son tan buenos…
Tuve el placer y honor de hacerle unas preguntas a Mads Jacobsen. CrossFit Coach del Team World que derrotó al All Star USA team en 2013. Level 1 coach, representante y parte de Reebok para su región, y coach del team Europe en 2014. También dueño de un affiliate llamado CrossFit Nordic. Ha sido coach de Annie Thorisdottir y de muchos otros super-estrellas dentro del CrossFit mundial. ¡Ojalá les guste!
[Andrés]: Who is Mads Jacobsen and how did he get into CF?
[Mads Jacobsen]: Mads is the father of Rasmus, the husband of Jenny, the son of Poul-Erik and Rita, and the brother of Rasmus (yes my brother’s name is Rasmus). Everything else is secondary :)
I was doing MMA, and my coach had found CrossFit.com and thought we should give it a try! I did, along with a couple of the guys, and got stuck immediately. So after my next fight I decided that I wanted to focus on CrossFit and stopped fighting :)
How was the experience of coaching Team World against the USA in 2013!? How do you compare it to coaching team Europe in 2014!?
It was an amazing experience to get to coach Team World 2013 and then to get to coach Team Europe 2014. The experiences were very similar. You get to meet and hang out with some of the finest athletes in the world, and then compete in a format that is different than anything either of you have ever really focused on doing before. So in comparison the experiences were similar. I feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to coach these two teams.
Do you think Annie will win the CF Games again?
I think Annie could win again! It all depends on whether she can stay injury free, and on the workouts that come out of the “hopper”. If the workouts play a bit towards her strengths then I think she has as good a chance as anyone else! That being said the competitive scene on the female side of the house is brutal! There are so many incredibly gifted athletes, so in order to win you need a combination of athletic prowess, determination, a good game-plan and a touch of luck.
There are so many incredibly gifted athletes, so in order to win you need a combination of athletic prowess, determination, a good game-plan and a touch of luck.
There has been a lot of criticism lately about the programming on The CF Games. Specially the last edition with MURPH included. What is your take on this? What would you change if anything?
Let me put it this way — I understand the criticism, but I don’t necessarily agree with it. In order to do well at the Games you need to know where to make your move, and if the Murph workout is not in your wheelhouse, or you feel like the heat could become an issue to you then, you should plan accordingly.
I was heart broken to see some of the athletes and how they were doing during and after the workout. Maybe it would have been better to do that workout earlier or later in the day, to avoid the heat, but all these observations are easy to make in hindsight.
Why are athletes from countries like Iceland/Sweden/Norway so dominating within the CrossFit universe?
I think there is a reason the applies to all of the Nordics:
People in the nordic region have a wide athletic base and are used to doing everything from track and field to wrestling and everything in between.
Specific to Iceland is that they have been very good at attracting athletic potential from other sports before these athletes have exhausted their potential in that sport. In other words, they have recruited great athletes from track and field and gymnastics before, at a very early stage. These athletes have then gotten to train with some of the best athletes in the world from day one, which has given them a great understanding of the game, and what they need to do to become the best in the world!
How do you motivate people when they don’t believe in themselves!?
My first advice is to involve a mental coach in the process. I may come up with a bunch of different ideas, but I think that we should all do what we do best, and I am really not a sports phycologist — so professional help is key!
After that I try to make sure that the athlete is doing this for the right reasons, which is themselves and a desire to succeed and fulfill their athletic potential. Doing this for someone else will never lead to good results! That way the athlete will also be better equipped to handle a result that does not go their way — they are not synonymous with their results :)
What is your school of thought when it comes to programming?
I seek inspiration from everyone! No one has it all figured out. I think it is all about finding the right solutions for the individual athlete.
Who are your favorite CF athletes and why?
Male: Mikko Salo — He is a great athlete, and one of the first true hybrid athletes.
Female: Annie Sakamoto — The way she combines being one of the nicest people in the world, with a constant desire to improve her athletic capacities, makes her truly amazing.
I have had the pleasure of spending time with a large number of athletes, but games athletes, and athletes in boxes that will never compete, and there are so many out there that inspire me and make me want to be a better athlete, and human being altogether! This is robably the hardest question ever!
What is a detail about Mads Jacobsen that most people don’t know?
When I was young I wanted to become a politician! I thought that it would be the best way to change the things I did not like about the world we live in — these days I am not so sure!
What is your take on steroids within CF? How would you regulate these substances?
Heavy testing and a lifetime ban from all competition!
What is your favorite training movement and why?
Olympic Lifting! It is like watching poetry in motion!
Do you follow a strict diet!? Are you a fan of the Paleo diet?
I don’t follow a strict diet — I guess I should, but I stick to eating clean.
I do like the Paleo diet because it works and I believe that the amount of junk in our system should be kept to an absolute minimum!
Do you have an opinion in the whole Nike vs Reebok ordeal?
I work for Reebok so needless to say I do have an opinion :)
The bigger CrossFit gets there will be more and more brands who open their eyes to CrossFit and want to get involved. I think the most important thing to do is to focus on what we do and not worry too much about other people or brands. If we begin to focus too much on what other brands do, our actions will become a reaction, instead of a drive to always become better.
What is the future of CF to you?
The future of CrossFit is hard to predict, but I hope it is an even bigger community of people who are genuinely interested in improving their GPP [General Physical Preparedness], and being a part of a healthy community. Some of these people will compete in local and international competitions, but the future is in nurturing and expanding the community.
Please give us the first word, only one word, that comes to mind when reading the following items :
Dave Castro. — The Games
CrossFit. — Lifestyle
The CrossFit Games. — Inspiration
Sweden. — Family
Politics. — hmmmmm
Religion. — God
Coca Cola. — Nope
Favorite Animal.— Dog
Hobby.— CrossFit
Favorite Book. — Tankar från en kanibal (lo tuvimos que buscar porque aquí no hablamos sueco! jaja la traducción literal de Google es “Thoughts from a cannibal” o “Pensamientos de un canibal”)
Favorite Band. — Foo Fighters
Pensamientos finales
En un momento en el cual hay tanta división dentro del mundo del fitness, creo que es super importante volver a nuestras raíces, y tomar consejo y experiencias de aquellos que estaban ahí mucho antes que nosotros. Aquellos que fueron, y son aún, la base de todo lo que hacemos ahora. El coach Mads, y muchos otros, son los abanderados del movimiento que más cambios ha generado dentro del mundo del Fitness. Es un genio, y figura indiscutible dentro del mismo, y por ello merece un espacio dentro de cualquier discusión sobre CrossFit o el Fitness en general.
Pura Vida!
Andres Sutherland
Regional Manager/Distributor for Kill Cliff.
Si te gustó este artículo y querés leer más de lo que New Breed y sus amigos están diciendo; o si estás en total desacuerdo con Andrés y querés leer todo lo que escribe para trollear su Facebook ☺ registrate en www.newbreedinc.com. También recibirás información de nuestros programas deportivos, anuncios y descuentos en toda la línea de productos de New Breed.
