The Importance of Mastering the Basics:
A
beginner’s guide to defeating injury and competitive CrossFit
For many of the CrossFit athletes at our box, and across the
world, this Open season is their first taste of CrossFit competition. At this point you may have already guessed
the propensity for competition to create injuries. Gasp! A CrossFit coach
saying CrossFit causes injury! Quick call Russell Berger to straighten this guy
out! Hold on folks, I said competition – not CrossFit. The CrossFit Open often
raises up many questions as gym members limp away from the workouts. I’m hoping
the content of this article will help you answer some of your own questions and
impart on you the importance of mastering the movement basics. (P.S. – If you
don’t know who Russell Berger is, he is CrossFit HQ’s PR guru. Also known as
the “PR Pitbull,” he is a former Army Ranger and the go to on attacks against
CrossFit training methodology.)
Can CrossFit cause
injuries?
Yes. However, so can unloading the car. Ask any mother if she
has ever had a sore back after carrying her child around the grocery store all
day, I guarantee she will get a yes. Life causes injuries. You add exercise or
sport into the equation and injury becomes more prevalent. The beauty of
CrossFit, or any exercise program, is that it consists of a set regimen of
movements that can be practiced in order to decrease injury. With the proper
amount of instruction and practice CrossFit is not only safe, but its definition
of fitness “increased
work capacity across broad time and modal domains” shows how it
strives to create human beings that are capable of a wide variety of tasks
without injury – not just workouts.
How can I decrease
injury?
Well that is simple, master the movements. Well coach how do
I do that? Also simple… practice. However this advice comes with a word of
caution: practice makes permanent not necessarily perfect. So in order to make
permanent the correct muscular recruitment patterns, or movements, we need to
learn the movements correctly. Meaning, we spend a long time working on basic
movements – air squat, medicine ball clean, deadlift, shoulder press, strict
pull up, etc – using little or no weight to ensure you have proper form before
moving to more weight and more complex movements. Lastly, listen to your body.
If your shoulder is sore and you think today’s workout will be a mistake LET
YOUR COACH KNOW. CrossFit coaches are by and large an understanding group. They
will take your concerns seriously and steer you in the right direction to stay
healthy and fit.
What is the best way
to master movement?
The best way to set yourself up for success is attending a
foundations class or on-ramp classes when first starting CrossFit or
periodically throughout your training. These classes allow athletes to be
observed by coaches specifically for movement without the time constraints of
getting in a WOD. A good solid base is important to ensure you avoid injury.
Almost as important, you must revisit those basics regular in warm up and skill
sessions so that you keep yourself grounded in good movement. Football players
don’t learn to tackle in peewee and never practice again; they revisit it every
practice to keep proficiency. If you want to stay injury free and continue to
increase your fitness you must do the same. The constant variance of CrossFit
mantra refers to is the variety of workouts and physical demands we place on
our bodies, not the movements we conduct in workouts. The movements were chosen
based on their ability to be universally applied to our lives, by practicing
them we can decrease propensity for injury across all aspects of our lives.
How do I know when I
am ready to compete?
You are right now. I don’t care whether it is day one of
CrossFit or day one thousand. Today you compete with the you of yesterday.
Competition increases chance of injury but does not guarantee it. If athletes
master and practice movement and compete at a level appropriate for their skill
level, they can compete without worry. Competition comes in different forms.
For some of us it is beating the person next to you. Others it’s beating
everyone else in the universe. But, for a vast majority it is simply beating
the best you could do last week. Answering this question is how we measure
results – are you more fit than you were? Competition can help us determine our
fitness level; which is why we suggest everyone try the Open.
How do I balance
performance and risk?
This question is by far the toughest question each of us
faces every training session. It is also a question without a steadfast answer.
Each of us strives to see results; results do not occur without hard work. But when
does “I go hard” turn into “I went too hard?” Critics of CrossFit live in this
question. The high intensity interval training, or HIIT, is the basis of most CrossFit programming. It pushes athletes to their limits and
without proper monitoring can be a hotbed for injury. However, by following the
guidelines mentioned above you can minimize that risk. As coaches we strive to
provide hard training routines and a solid instruction base in order to attack
every WOD with the intensity and motivation needed to consistently improve. You,
as athletes, need to weigh the risk of injury against the desire to outperform
every workout. For new athletes the answer should always be low risk over high
reward. For seasoned athletes the question is more personal and can only be
answered by the individual.
How can I help my
performance and decrease chance of injury outside of my workouts?
What we do outside the gym is as important as what we do
inside. Learn these words and learn them well: hydration, nutrition, recovery,
and mobility. These tenets are the keys we control outside the gym, that lead
to great performance inside the gym. Hydration is the most important. Our
bodies are 50-60% water, remove too much and it shuts down. Nutrition is
simple. Food is fuel if we want to perform our best we must put good fuel in
our bodies. I don’t care whether you eat Paleo or gluten-free or Zone or don’t
follow a specific diet at all, but I do want all athletes to monitor what they
put in their bodies and ensure they are eating for performance. (I recommend Entering the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears as
a good starting point.) Recovery means rest. It means we ensure we get adequate
sleep each night and take a day or two off when our bodies tell us to. Muscles
need time to rebuild and reboot. Each person recovers at a different rate. Listening to our bodies and resting when
needed, will keep us ready to work. Mobility is the science of improving range
of motion and body movement. In order to perform the best we must move the
best. Mobility work helps us accomplish top performance through movement drills
and kinetic stretching. (A good starting point here is www.mobilitywod.com from Dr. Kelly
Starrett.)
What is rhabdo and
how can I never get it?
Rhadbomyolysis, or rhabdo, is the release of myoglobin into
the bloodstream caused by the damage and breakdown of muscle tissue. Rhabdo is
not caused by dehydration, but it is more likely if you are improperly
hydrated. In fact rhabdo can be caused by many things including infections,
some medications, crush injuries, and sustained extremely strenuous exercise. With
that being said, every hard workout won’t cause rhabdo. With proper hydration,
nutrition, and listening to your bodies by resting when necessary, you can
lower the risk of rhabdo to the lowest level.
Conclusion:
Competition is important and the possibility of injury is
always there. However, athletes can minimize risk of injury by following simple
training guidelines above. The important thing to remember is that CrossFit
training, at its core is a program that strives to create healthier humans not
just competitive athletes. It requires a holistic approach to fitness. The best
results require a lifestyle change to increase everyday performance.
-Coach Ethan
CrossFit Equipment
So I promised the 0530 crew I would
post a bit of coach's insight regarding equipment. I get questions on equipment
all the time. What should be bought? When should it be bought? Which kind
should be bought? Hopefully this will help.
First the disclaimer: I don't work
for any of these companies and never have. CrossFit does not directly endorse
use of any particular fitness equipment. These suggestions are all purely based
off my personal experience.
I know most of you have seen the bag
I walk in with, overflowing with gear and goodies. I can tell you right now,
most of that stuff is unnecessary. I come from a powerlifting background where
gear meant pounds and pounds meant podiums. If it was legal we bought it. For
the average CrossFit athlete most of it is unnecessary. There are 5 items the
average CrossFitter should consider purchasing: minimalist/zero drop shoes,
speed rope, wrist wraps, high socks/lifting shin protectors, and a callus
shaver/pumice stone.
Minimalist/Zero Drop Shoes: These are
essential. Everyone should purchase them who works out with free weights.
Period. They accomplish a very simply and important task - allowing your body
to move naturally. Humans adapted to move and run with a mid-foot strike, the
ball of our foot. This allows for impact to disperse properly across our
skeletal and muscular systems evenly and most effectively to minimize wear and
tear on our bodies. In addition, it helps build the stabilization systems in
our legs, ankles, knees, and posterior chains so that we can brace and balance
properly. When lifting they give us a solid flat base so that we can squat and
stand through our heels and engage our posterior chains without placing undue
strain on our knees. Large cushioned
shoes that fake stabilization and absorb impact of bad running form ruin
thousands of years of bio-mechanical evolution. They also push you forward on
your toes during lifts because of the uneven lifting plane they create. If you
were to buy one thing and only one, minimalist/zero drop shoes would be it.
Speed Rope: Having trouble with
double-unders? Can get singles all day but you just can't seem to get around
quick enough to grab that second one? A speed rope will help. Growing up I
heard bad athletes blame the equipment all the time, when it comes to
double-unders the blame game slightly fits. The speed rope is designed to be
just that - a speedier rope. It plain and simple moves faster. Once adjusted
and with a little practice, your Annie time will drop... a lot.
Wrist Wraps: This one I may get flak
for. "If your wrists are sore you need to strengthen your wrists." I
say, not the case. Sure, to some extent your wrists will strengthen but only to
a certain point. Coaches who don't want athletes to be as braced and stable as
possible are bad coaches. Wrist wraps help stabilize and brace. Plus let's be honest,
sometimes we need help when we're doing three overhead lifts a week. Your
wrists simply don't grow the same muscular support system that other joints do,
such as the shoulder, and sometimes they needs some help.
High Socks/Lifting Shin Protectors:
This one may throw a few people, but I ask you this... how many times have you
walked away from a heavy deadlift day with bloody shins? If your answer is
never then you are either deadlifting improperly or have been wearing long
socks or shin guards. If your a moving weight from the ground in some form of
deadlift setup you should be riding the bar up your shins. That starts to wear
on your skin, a little protection can stop that. Plus they give you a little
extra something when you get tired and miss that landing on the 18th of 21 box
jumps.
Let's be honest you're in Korea, it's
like the sock capital of world. Go to
the ville and buy some sweet socks.
Callus Shaver/Pumice Stone: Right now
half of you are like what?! That's a beauty product not a work out accessory.
I'll tell you do two weeks of bar work and then 100 pull ups, and tell me your
calluses weren't a factor. If you still have untorn, unbloodied hands they are
probably sore and angry around the calluses. Now calluses are good, they are
toughened skin that has adapted to the continual stress you're placing on your
hands - but they are only good to a point. Once they build to a level where you
can start to fell them when on a bar, it's time to shave up. What will happen
is the skin will build and build until it gets to be too much. Then when you're
doing 50 toes to bar the callus will get pulled and pulled by the excess skin
until the soft layers underneath can't hold anymore and they rip off. At that
point you can kiss goodbye to holding anything heavy for the next week. A quick
shave every now and then will keep your hands happy.
These 5 items are the basics. There
are hundreds more out there each with a purpose and advantage, but these five
are the ones a regular weekly warrior should consider. If you have any more
questions myself and all the coaches at CrossFit Humphreys are here to help.
Happy WOD'ing!
-Coach Ethan
