I know, I know! Everyone loves bread, pasta, corn, and rice. I really, REALLY miss bread! But, you have to weigh the "nutritional value" of grains against the health problems associated with consuming something your body is not capable of properly digesting. Please follow the link above; do some reading; and let us know what you think.
Squats Complete 8 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest for each of the above exercises; e.g. 8 intervals of Pull Ups, 8 intervals of Push Ups, etc. There is no rest between exercises.
Score is the total of the lowest number of reps completed in 20 seconds for each exercise.
As you've experienced, Crossfit is a lot more about lifting things up and putting them down. There's a lot of technical skill, mental fortitude, and down-right primal instincts involved during a grueling WOD.
The bad news is, unlike yoga or pilates, it doesn't get any easier with time. Diane and Fran will always kick your butt, thrusters and burpees will always suck, and AMRAPS will always leave you gasping for air. But you will get stronger! And you'll crave the suck. As long as you practice...
But how do you practice such a broad, general, all-inclusive form of fitness?
By Crossfitting; that means practicing your skills throughout all modalities (the major ones being gymnastics, weightlifting, and mono-structural ones, like rowing and running), working on your weaknesses to become stronger, and keeping with it.
This week, the clean and the jerk were introduced. These moves are "Olympic lifts," which means they are extremely technical and require a lot of skill to execute properly. So why are we introducing these lifts? Beyond the physical-benefits, introducing them early means we can start practicing them more often. Does this mean we will become experts and qualify for the Olympics by 2016? Not likely; but we can get proficient at these by building technique and training our nervous system. Working on our technique and building our weaknesses will not only get us fitter, it will prevent injury.
We talked about the 10,000 Hour Rule; considering we only have an hour to get through a warm-up, learn a technical skill, and complete a WOD, according to this, we would be able to collect retirement here before we become "experts" at anything. But we can get better in significantly less time by deliberately taking some effort to understand these skills that are being taught.
One way to supplement the classes is by checking this blog, because you will happen upon resources like this series of great YouTube videos about the clean-and-jerk:
But beyond this, I encourage you to learn more. Be present in class, break down the skills, fully understand the ins-and-outs, and approach each workout with deliberate effort. Crossfit is not the end-all, be-all, but try to make it more than just your one-hour lunch-break workout.
I also encourage to spread the word so people can fully take advantage of the opportunity we have here. Consider this: a typical Crossfit box gives a free intro class, usually makes you take an "on-ramp" fundamentals course that might be anywhere from $100-150, and charges a monthly fee of $100 or more for a membership or at least $15-20 a drop-in class. You're getting all that for free. Even if you leave next month, you will at least build proficiency in the fundamental movements enough to not have to take any on-ramp or basic-skills requirements boxes have.
Though we might not spend 10,000 hours together, every little bit counts as long as you approach each workout whole-heartedly and deliberately! Have fun, learn and be fit!
I wanted to pass some information about nutrition.When it comes down to your performance in the gym, and your overall health, what you eat is more important than what you lift.The article below lists some of the most damaging myths we hear in our day to day lives.
The fundamental problem with most of these myths is they are perpetuated by the USDA, which has bases their recommendations on 50 year old studies that have been repeatedly debunked by modern research.
The article has links to the research it sites, so can get the information from the source.If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve started Crossfit, and as we get into
more technical skills, like the kipping pull-up, snatches, overhead squats,
etc., you’re going to start feeling like your body just doesn’t move that way.
One reason might be the profound learning curb that is "Crossfit," which gives
it its appeal for constant improvement, progression and knowledge. But a simpler
reason might be due to mobility issues from bodies that are not used to moving
in the ways these skills make us move.
Oftentimes, it is thought that mobility work involves simply just stretching
before an exercise. People don’t consider it an important part of fitness and
want to get to the “real workout” so eagerly they often will rush or even skip mobility
work.
But there’s a difference between stretching and mobilization. What is it?
To explain this, I’ll use an excerpt from mobilitywod.com:
“Stretching only focuses on lengthening short and tight muscles.
Mobilization, on the other hand, is a movement-based integrated full-body
approach that addresses all the elements that limit movement and performance
including short and tight muscles, soft tissue restriction, joint capsule
restriction, motor control problems, joint range of motion dysfunction, and
neural dynamic issues. In short, mobilization is a tool to globally address
movement and performance problems.”
What this means to you is that, much like you can build your absolute
strength by lifting weights, you can build your mobility.
The most important thing is, like any other skill, you work on it. Don’t
think it’s something you can skip and get away with; you’ll only be penalized
with soreness, instability and even injury. Your muscles recover relatively
quickly; it’s the joints, tendons and nerves in the system that need the most
work, recovery and rehab. Improving your mobility, bit-by-bit, will help you
improve recovery and protect you from injury.
How should you get started? There are tons of resources
online, but we’ve covered a bunch in classes already. Most of the stretches
with the PVC-pipe works wonders, but if you’re still wondering, I’ve listed
some tools and online videos that might get you started.
Some things I’ve invested in are a couple of lacrosse balls,
a sock, and a broom stick. If you have the resources, you can add a foam roller
and some band as other tools to work on your mobility. Shoot for 10 to 20-minute sessions of mobility work many days a week.
Tips for lacrosse balls:
Shoulder mobility:
Some drills for the shoulders:
Scapular mobility:
Some ways you can use a foam roller:
There is a plethora of resources on Youtube and the web to help
you improve. Make sure you check out some of the videos I’ve posted and take a
few minutes to read http://www.mobilitywod.com/ to learn more than you ever wanted to know about human mechanics! (You'll be on your way to becoming a "supple leopard")
Once your mobility improves you and feel your body moving
harmoniously through a WOD, you won't think of it as "just stretching" ever again!
