Mr. Thibaudeau,
Good Morning. Just finished reading your blog “Real Judgment Free Zone” and wanted to thank you for an excellent perspective. I have two reasons to comment, one entirely selfish. I am currently in Kabul and have spent the last nine years working in Iraq, Afghanistan, and various other Middle East countries for the USG, so, when I read about gyms with the attitude of Planet Fitness (never been in one) I have to wonder what "planet " they are living on. My training is always in some form of a military gym, whether sand lot at an FOB or a NATO gym, but, one thing is always common: regardless of nationality or race, dickheads are weeded out very quickly. I am former SF, so I gravitate toward finding workout partners from the same background, it does not matter what country you are from, Its your willingness to work is what “gets you accepted”. You gym reminds me of the same attitude toward training.
Second, I wanted to let you know, that you are well known in the military world and your CrossFit articles are especially well received, since over the past five years, CrossFit has been adopted, in form or another, by every foreign force I have worked with or trained. I trained for about 6 months with some Dutch Marines and Aussie SF, and their favorite workout was sparring and then flipping tires between rounds. One of the Aussies told me “hey that French bloke on that muscle site would like this” What? I said, you talking about CT? Yeah, he said, “its some initials like that” LOL.
Yesterday, I was over at the “Crossfit Area” ( bars, weight, rings, etc, under a tarp) and two female EOD’s were training. Both stated they were going to train for the Ranger entrance qualification run and wanted to know what was the best program, since, both had been following your “Hard Body Training for Women”. I am not qualified to train them, so, I would like to request in the future, you could perhaps write an article on preparing women to take the Special Forces entrance tests. The two women who passed the Ranger School two weeks ago have garnered a lot of attention. I have even had civilian Intelligence Analysts ask me if they could get “strong enough to pass”. Well, maybe…Anyway this is a long winded way of saying, I have always appreciated your articles and wanted to let you know, that you have a large following in some of the worst places on this planet. Thank you for all your advice and support.